Creating a Simple ASP.NET Application: Reading and Writing Files

by kirupa   | filed under .NET and C#

The classic "hello, world" application has been used since the 1970's to test whether a programming language works. Since then, it is customarily used to as the first example a programmer new to a computer language creates. In this case, it will also be used as the first of, what I hope to be, many .net tutorials that I will be writing. So it is only fitting, that this tutorial uses the classic "hello, world" as both the starting point for you to get familiarized with .net and for me to get familiar with writing tutorials for a new language.

Getting Started

Creating a basic console-application running on your PC is fairly simple, and many sites on the web cover how to do that. Instead, I will explain how to create a simple application for the web using ASP.NET. So to get started, you will need to install Visual Studio.

If you are using the full retail/academic version Visual Studio 2005, you are already set. If you do not have Visual Studio 2005, you can freely download the fully-featured Express edition from the following link. More specifically, for this tutorial you will need to install Visual Web Developer Express.

The Express editions of Visual Studio contain most of all the features you would normally use for light to moderate application development. The Express editions are not shareware/trial-ware, etc. They are fully featured applications that contain a subset of the most often used features found in the full-blown Visual Studio package. All .NET tutorials on this site will be written with the Express editions of VS in mind.

Let's Start

The following steps will help you to create a HelloWorld .NET application that you can preview in your browser.

1. Launch Visual Studio or Visual Web Developer Express. Go to File | New | Web Site. From the Templates area select ASP.NET Web Site, ensure File System is selected under the Location drop-down menu, and select Visual C# under the Language drop-down menu:

[ ensure your project is a ASP.NET Web Site with the Visual C# Language preference ]

2. Press OK after you have made the above selections. A few moments later, your project will be created. Your interface should look similar to the following image (click on image for larger view):

[ your interface - click on image for larger view ]

3. In order to display our "hello, world" text, we will need some container-like object. In our case, that container-like object (component) will be a Label. Before we can do that, let's switch to the Design View. So, at the bottom-left corner of your window, click on the Design link to go into the Design View:

[ click on the Design link to go to the Design view ]

We're on the right track, but there is more material to cover. In the next section, you will add and customize a Label component.

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